Questions raised about judges choosing campaign over court

Instead of holding court Oct. 2, several Las Vegas judges attended a campaign event in Henderson.

Most of them cleared their court calendars to do so, but senior judges sat on the bench for Family Court Judge William Gonzalez and District Judge Kerry Earley— at taxpayer expense.

“Judges in the past kind of drew a black line between campaigning on taxpayer time, and this year the judges don’t seem to be observing that same line,” lawyer Bruce Shapiro said. “That being said, this points out the shortfalls and the adverse consequences of having elected judges.”

Family Court Judge Kenneth Pollock, who has been on medical leave since early August, said he sent a representative to the Henderson event in his place. However, the judge attended a campaign event in Laughlin the evening before.

“If he can be out there campaigning, he should be able to sit on the bench,” said Las Vegas paralegal Matthew Yarbrough, president of Citizens for an Ethical Judiciary. The nonpartisan group has endorsed Pollock’s opponent, Rena Hughes.

Pollock said his medical leave was prompted by a craniotomy, but he declined to discuss his health in detail.

“I really don’t think my medical condition is relevant,” he said. “But I’m making a very strong recovery and hopefully the doctor will be releasing me soon.”

Pollock said he spent the night of Sept. 30 in Laughlin and slept all day before the two-hour “meet and greet” on Oct. 1. He also spent the night of Oct. 1 in Laughlin.

“The real issue is the doctor hasn’t released me back to work,” the judge said.

Pollock said his doctor denied his request to return to work even part time but has allowed him to attend short campaign events, provided he gets plenty of rest.

“I make maybe one or two events a week at most,” the judge said.

Henderson provided the Las Vegas Review-Journal with a list of 60 candidates who attended the Oct. 2 event, held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at City Hall. The list had the names of 18 judges, including Pollock and District Judge Adriana Escobar, but city staff confirmed that the two sent representatives and did not appear in person.

Others on the list were Gonzalez and Earley.

Ileen Spoor, the senior judge coordinator for Southern Nevada, said both Gonzalez and Earley asked for senior judges to take over their court calendars that day.

Nevada has 26 senior judges — retired judges who receive additional pay to fill in when sitting judges are absent. Spoor said the amount they are paid is based on their salary when they retired.

The program coordinator said judges can have senior judges substitute for them for up to four weeks of vacation a year. Judges may take an unlimited number of sick days with coverage from senior judges, she said.

Spoor said Earley took a vacation day on Oct. 2, but she assumed Gonzalez was sick.

“I believe he was ill, because they called the day before,” she said.

Gonzalez said he began feeling ill on Sept. 19 and received a prescription for antibiotics on Sept. 24. The following day he requested coverage from a senior judge, he said.

“I’ve pretty much been on the campaign trail since mid-January,” he said. “It’s like two full-time jobs.”

Gonzalez said a senior judge heard his cases on Sept. 29, Sept. 30, Oct. 2 and Oct. 6. He said no one heard cases in his courtroom on Oct. 1 and Oct. 3, because no hearings were scheduled.

He said he attended the Henderson campaign event, although he still was under the weather, because he thought it was important.

“This was the only event that they had for the city of Henderson,” the judge said.

Gonzalez said he had not used a senior judge since August 2013, when he was recovering from major knee surgery. And at that time, he had not used a senior judge since February 2010, he said.

He said he never has used a senior judge while attending any other campaign events, and he clears his calendar for planned vacations rather than requesting a senior judge.

“As a public servant, I’ve been very mindful of the public’s money,” he said.

Earley said she has been trying to balance her courtroom responsibilities, which are her priority, with campaign commitments.

“If I don’t get elected, I don’t get to keep my job, and I love my job,” she said.

The judge said she had 21 cases on her calendar the morning of Oct. 2, and she handled all but three in advance. She said she chose to request a senior judge rather than going dark that day.

“I prefer to keep my courtroom moving, because I have a very big calendar,” Earley said.

She said that was the only time she has used a senior judge to attend a campaign event.

Escobar said she has not used a senior judge since this summer. She had signed up for the Henderson event and planned to attend after she finished hearing the cases on her calendar that morning.

“On Oct. 2 I had a calendar that lasted until about noon. It lasted a little longer than I anticipated, so I was unable to attend the event in Henderson,” she said.

Escobar said people from her campaign brought literature to the event for her.

“Without having more facts, I wouldn’t want to say that a judge is right or wrong for campaigning during the work day,” said Shapiro, who has practiced family law in Las Vegas since 1990.

He said a judge could more easily defend the use of vacation time to attend campaign events if the judge had not taken other vacation time during the year. He also noted that plenty of campaign events are held during the evening and on weekends.

When senior judges show up to hear a case without warning, Shapiro added, “that’s not really fair to the litigants.” The litigants may end up receiving a decision from a senior judge who is not familiar with the case, he said.

Shapiro said he knows nothing about Pollock’s medical condition but is disturbed by his attendance at campaign events while on medical leave.

“This is a man who did little family law. Then shortly after being elected to family court runs downtown,” the lawyer said. “He’s one of the lowest-ranked judges, makes up his own rules and unnecessarily increased the cost of litigation. Now, only weeks before the election he takes an extended time off, at taxpayer expense, but is still able to attend campaign events. He needs to go.”

Pollock, who was elected in 2008, unsuccessfully challenged District Judge Susan Scann in 2010. Scann presides over cases in downtown Las Vegas.

Clark County lawyers have rated Pollock three times as part of the Review-Journal’s Judicial Performance Evaluation, but he never has received a retention score higher than 50 percent.

When Pollock was first evaluated in 2010, 47 percent of the responding lawyers said he should be retained. Last year, only 40 percent said he should keep his seat.

Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710. Find her on Twitter: @CarriGeer.